Return and Forgiveness
by JG Studios
Summary: My idea of what happens to Murphy post Forgiveness/Truth & Justice endings. MurphyxCarol. Implied OC. Features a cameo of a past SH protagonist.


**Return and Forgiveness**

**A Silent Hill: Downpour fan-fiction.**

**Part 1**

"Is this…" Murphy muttered. "Are we free?"

"Yeah…" Anne nodded. "I think we are."

With the signal finally back on, Anne's radio went off, with a distinct male voice on the other end. "… do you copy? Ryall County Search & Rescue to Officer Cunningham, do you copy, over?"

"This is Cunningham, I copy, over."

"What's your twenty, Cunningham? We've got half the department out looking for you – Matthew's been on edge all day, over."

She briefly smiles. "I'm okay. I'm on a shore of a lake somewhere, 'fraid I can't be more specific than that, over."

"Roger. We'll send the bird to sweep the shore again. We've located everyone except for one: Pendleton, Murphy. You got a twenty on Pendleton, over?"

Anne looks back at Murphy. She knows that he didn't deserve any of those horrible things that have happened to him before.

"Negative. Pendleton's dead. Over."

"Roger that."

Murphy looks down for a moment. Such a noble move on her part, he thought. "Are you going to be okay…?"

She just replies with a "You better go."

He nods and turns his back on her. They're done with Silent Hill, and now they can go their separate ways, and move on with their lives.

"But where will you go now?" she asks.

A relatively good question he thought. He's been dismissed by pretty much all of his loved ones… except for maybe...

"There's someplace I gotta be…" he replies without turning around and walks away.

Anne smiles and turns her back to the lake, staring at the clear skies.

"Thank you, Murphy…" she mutters to herself "… for the truth.".

It was over.

A few hours later, Murphy broke in to what seem to be an abandoned cabin in the woods, where he found fresh clothes conveniently placed on the sofa. Why they were there even though the place showed no signs of recent occupation was something Murphy didn't have the time to figure out, so he just assumed that this was the town's last gift to him, and so without a second thought, he changed his attire from the Overlook Prison jumpsuit, to a pair of blue jeans and a black T-shirt underneath a short, green trench coat.

After a while, Murphy finally made it to the highway. The nearby road sign mentions Brahms being 30 miles away. Just his luck, and with Murphy being worn out the way he is already, his walking speed would be 2 miles per hour at best.

About 7 hours later, Murphy barely made it half way to his destination and it's already getting dark. It was a long and an overly drawn out walk, but his journey in Silent Hill had worn him out severely, rendering Murphy to be barely standing. He fell on his knees and sat on the ground, trying to catch his breath. While resting, he catches a glimpse of light coming from the direction that he came from. As Murphy gets up, he realizes what it is: a delivery truck. He manages to get its attention.

"Hey there, friend, need a lift?" asks the driver that looks like in his mid 50s.

Murphy sighs "Yeah, something like that."

"Well climb right in, then."

While climbing into the truck, he reads the description of the van:

"**Ambrose: Trucking & Haulage – Shipping from Owl Creek, Alabama since 1891". **– Amusingly enough, it's the same description of a truck he saw earlier in Silent Hill.

"Thanks a bunch, Mr.—"

"Call me Travis" the driver replied.

"Alright, thanks Travis." Murphy says, closing the door. "Hope it doesn't cost you much trouble, but could you please drop me off at Brahms? And then we'll go our separate ways."

Travis chuckles "Sure! No worries, friend, I'm headed that way anyway, am on a delivery schedule."

"Ah, okay. Thanks again."

"No problem. I'm _**used **_to doing this. We'll be there in no time." Then Travis picks up a radio. "10-4, 10-4, this is Grady, I got a bit of a situation here, delivery will probably be delayed for a couple of hours, over."

"What kind of situation?" the voice on the other end replies.

Travis looks at Murphy and smiles "Just a lost soul that needs my help, that's all, over."

As they're driving along the highway, Travis starts up a conversation.

"You're a pretty silent lad there, now aren't you, what's your name anyway?"

"It's Murphy."

"Okay Murphy. I know it's probably none of my business, but if it's not a secret, what brings a guy like you out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Well… let's just say: it's a long story, but the bottom line is: I got lost in the town of Silent Hill while trying to find my way back home, so I'm glad you came up."

"Ahhh, Silent Hill eh? Funny, I'm just back from there. Enjoyed your stay, I hope?"

Murphy went quiet for a moment. "Not really, no."

"Why is that? It's quite a cute little resort town."

"I beg to disagree. Did you not see anything strange… happening in that town, did you?"

"Not today anyway."

"What do you mean by "not today"?

"Well, I digress, when I was around your age, I saw enough of the town's fair share of weirdness on my own as well, but you know what? It helped me in a lot of ways."

"How so"?

"Well, how should I explain it… It made me… face the reality of my problems, realize that the past is the past and it helped me move on with my life. Before I went to Silent Hill, I lived a life without a purpose, I tried run away from my past, I couldn't really socialize with people… but after I've been there, I was able to live properly, start a family, and then, well…"

Murphy just stares at him.

"Well, you get the idea. What about you? Did it cause any changes in you?"

Murphy thinks before replying. "To tell you truth… it actually did. It helped me understand how wrong my actions were before, that revenge was never the solution, and that my old life will never be back, so… I think I'll just try to start a new one from scratch, which is why I want to try to get back home as soon as possible."

That made Travis smile. "Good to hear."

"Hey Murphy, we're here" Travis wakes Murphy up - along the way Murphy fell asleep from his exhaustion.

"Thanks." Murphy looks out in his window to see that Travis brought Murphy to the downtown area.

"Hope the place is familiar?"

"Absolutely, thanks."

"Maybe you want me to give you a ride straight home or…?"

"Nah, it's cool man, you've already done more than enough for me as it is."

"Okay then, suit yourself."

"Man, it's getting dark."

"Well, you can land yourself at the motel for the night."

Murphy chuckles "Sorry pal, wish I could, but I'm pretty much a bum at this point."

Travis thinks for a bit, and then searches his pocket and gives Murphy some 50 dollars, but Murphy at first declines it. "No no no, thanks I'm fine the way it is, no need for—"

"Don't give me that crap, Murphy. It could be dangerous right now in the open. Go have a proper sleep, get your energy back, and then you can go search for your home with a fresh head in the morning, alright? 30 dollars for the room and additional money for, whatever it is you'll need – food, bus tickets or whatever."

"I don't even know what to say."

"Ha, you don't have to say anything, just take it."

Murphy slowly reaches his hand and takes the money. "Thanks Travis. I can't… there's no way in hell I'll be able to repay you back for all you did for me today."

"Oh I'm sure you will someday."

"What do you mean?"

Travis pulls out a card with his companies name and gives it to Murphy. "Ever need any help, then call me, alright friend?"

Murphy chuckles "Well, once I get a phone that is. Only then I'll be able think about it."

Travis laughs "Yeah, good luck with that."

Murphy shakes his hand. "Thanks Travis."

"You're welcome, youngster."

As Murphy exits the cabin of the truck, he exclaims "See you around."

Travis nods as Murphy clothes the door.

After Murphy watched Travis drive away, he went to the nearest, cheapest motel in the downtown area, and the money Travis gave was enough to stay for a night.

As Murphy lies on the bed in the darkness, staring at the ceiling and the only things he hears are the sounds of the cars outside of his window, only one thing crosses his mind:

"I have no idea what will I say when I see her, but I made it this far, I can't stop now."

He closes his eyes and turns to the side.

"I'm coming home Carol… I'll be there soon, just wait for me."

To be continued.


End file.
